Music fills a summer evening (From Dorset Echo)

Music fills a summer evening

4:53pm Wednesday 28th July 2010 in Community

SATURDAY, June 26 saw the first “Music on the Green” event in Osmington and, judging by the success of it, this could become a regular feature of the Osmington calendar.

It was a balmy June evening at the end of a week of improbably good weather which was all the more unlikely as the Osmington Society, who organised this treat, chose the Glastonbury Festival weekend -which should have guaranteed a downpour.

Music lovers were invited to bring their picnics, champagne and candelabra for Osmington’s answer to Proms in the Park, and around 100 of them fully entered into the spirit of the event and enjoyed a glorious evening.

First on stage was the Mike Botterill Trio, with Mike Botterill on guitar, Michael Ridout on double bass and Rob Wrixton on drums, doubling on tenor sax.

Next was One Voice, led by Grazina Ellis, a professional mezzo soprano who has toured the world with choirs. One Voice is a local mixed voice choir who include classical, musical theatre, swing and blues in their repertoire.

The final act was Will Adams, a local singer-song writer who began with a local band and then turned to opera, performing major and minor roles locally. As a long time fan of Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole, Matt Munro and the Rat Pack, he then started singing swing and ballads and writing more in this style.

As the light began to fail, stalwart promenaders lit their corners of the ‘Green’ appropriately and the evening wound up at around 10pm, widely regarded as a great success.

• THE Osmington fête has long been a highlight of local life, bringing in a great cross-section of local people, as well as many visitors from all over the country. The Friends of St. Osmund have been running it since 1986, and the money raised each year has been vital in keeping the structure of our parish church in good repair, and has made a major contribution to the building of the village hall.

If this important community event is to survive in the future, there is a real need for new blood and new ideas to be injected into the planning and organisation. So, if you are willing to take part in forming a revitalised team, or if you have any ideas to contribute, come along to the meeting in the Sunray on Tuesday, August 17 at 7.30pm.

If you want to know more, or to put forward any ideas before the meeting, contact Teresa on 833830 or e-mail tms@smartrack.co.uk

• BY public demand, they’re here again! Once again, Osmington is playing host to the amazing Sunset Café Stompers with their repertoire of foot-tapping traditional jazz in the New Orleans style. So make a date for Saturday, October 9 at Osmington Village Hall. Doors open 7.30pm. Tickets cost £8, and will be on sale from August 17 from Keith Pratt, Buttress Cottage Church Lane, Osmington, Tel: 01305 833847. Licensed Bar and hot snacks will be available. Proceeds go towards the maintenance of Osmington Village Hall. Don’t delay – it’s always a sell-out!

• THE archive film show “Dorset History on Film”, which was due to be shown in the village hall on Sunday July 18 as part of the South Dorset Ridgeway Festival, has been postponed until the autumn because of unforeseen problems.